Elite Street: Jose Contreras lists Gold Coast condo

Contreras, 42, a Cuban defector and a key part of the Sox's 2005 World Series-winning team, left the Sox in a trade to the Colorado Rockies in 2009. He pitched briefly for the Pittsburgh Pirates this year. On Dec. 5, Contreras signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers.

Contreras bought the 26th-floor unit in 2006 for $1.15 million. Features in the three-bedroom, 2,500-square-foot condo include 3 1/2 baths, a gourmet kitchen with granite and top-grade appliances, a wet bar, two master suites, travertine floors throughout, views of Lake Michigan and Navy Pier, and a den that could be used as a fourth bedroom.

Contreras had listed the unit from mid-2010 to the start of 2012. He first listed it in June 2010 for $999,900 and reduced his asking price to $899,900 before taking it off the market. Sergio Aguirre of Northlake Realtors has the listing.

This year, former Chicago Cubs player Aramis Ramirez sold his three-bedroom, 10th-floor unit in the building for $680,000. He had purchased it for $937,500 in 2005.

Wrigley-Offield mansion lists for $6.9M

A Romanesque Revival-style red brick mansion on the Gold Coast, built in 1886 and designed by the architectural firm of Cobb & Frost, recently was listed for $6.9 million.

The seven-bedroom, more than 10,000-square-foot mansion was built for Perry Smith Jr., whose father had worked in the railroad industry and made an unsuccessful bid for Chicago mayor before dying in 1885.

The mansion later became known as the Wrigley-Offield mansion. Dorothy Wrigley Offield, the only daughter of chewing gum company magnate William Wrigley Jr., owned the house for more than 50 years until her death in 1980.

In 1991, a 3,000-square-foot addition, including a turret, was added. Robert Growney, a former Motorola vice chairman, bought the mansion in 2008 for $5.2 million.

"The addition helps make the home more livable by today's standards," said listing agent Anthony Adams of Baird & Warner.

In an interview, Growney said he and his wife made significant restorations to the mansion.

"The first floor was untouched from the 1800s with wood that is all original mahogany, but on the second, third and fourth floors, we brought back the old flooring," he said. "We also did a lot of change-out of air conditioning and air handling equipment, as well as infrastructure work and electrical."

Growney also praised the mansion's 1991 addition.

"If you're going to add on to one of these old houses, that was the way to do it," he said. "The owners at the time did a superb job."

After Growney's wife, Wilma, died this year, he said he decided to sell.

"The project was her passion, but it's not quite my passion," he said.